Marsh Sandpiper

Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis was a very common bird on the mud flats and salt pans at Pakthale with an estimated 300+ birds of this species seen. It is a bird which is reminiscent of a diminutive Common Greenshank with a thin straight blackish bill, white supercilium and paler lores. Most of the waders at Pakthale were very distant but this one was in a pool close to the bus which gave me the opportunity to take the photo through the open window at close range.

Marsh Sandpiper is a migratory species, with the majority of birds wintering in Africa and India with fewer migrating to South-east Asia and Australia. They prefer to winter on fresh water wetlands such as swamps and lakes and are usually seen singly or in small groups. These birds forage by probing in shallow water or on wet mud. They mainly eat insects and similar small prey.

Reference: Wikipedia